Auspicious Autumn

The season is but four days old, so to expect Nature to get with it in such a short amount of time is like hoping this year holiday items won’t clog store isles, yet there they have been since earlier this month. In my little corner of the woods nestled among farmland, rural ruin and small towns of southern New Jersey, the trees are still very much green. There are a few hints of changing colors hidden beneath layers of healthy leaves and chilly evenings that turn to cold mornings which indicate that Autumn is indeed in the air. On an intimate level, it brings up many memories because Halloween was always something I looked forward to while I was still doing sideshow with Jon. He really enjoyed scaring people and took it as a personal challenge to do so by creating his own characters and crafting the costumes himself. It is a tradition that we shared for many years until that fateful night he crashed on the Wall of Death, and I do what I can to continue celebration in a similar fashion.

GENERATION Q

While I have not yet had the pleasure of using their products, Illamasqua is a company that I support because I am so enamored with the messages behind their makeup. They are not telling me what is or is not beautiful – they encourage me to embrace the things that separate me from everyone else, as we all have unique features that are distinct and deserve to be loved. Their latest collection, Generation Q , “is a celebration of individual self-expression. Ageless, and without limits or restrictions. It’s our declaration to the world that beauty is inclusive, not exclusive. In fact, Generation Q is a clear message to everybody, everywhere that beauty is not young, old, black, white, male or female, but anything, everything and everyone”; touted as “a new, dynamic range that provides the industry’s only antidote to the cartels’ homogenised and prejudiced vision of beauty”. The campaign goes against an industry taboo by featuring models of various ages who are makeup fans, such as Ian who says that he has “always admired self-expression for men and women” as well as “people who choose to be different”, which are excellent examples of why I am so fond of these products.

The overall message of Generation Q is that beauty has no age limit, and so the twelve products in this collection can be used by anyone for every occasion. To compose a series of detailed looks, integrate shades from the Empower Palette, described as highly pigmented shadows in Synth (iridescent pale pink glitter), Fervent (reddish brown with multi-tonal glitter) and Blink (soft beige nude). Slick, a charcoal grey metallic, is the fourth color in this palette and meant to mimic the illuminating reflections of . The Complement Palette also has three shadows and one Liquid Metal, which allows the cool metallic brown of Focus and soft champagne shimmer of Slink to play against the rich chocolate plum of Forgiveness and blackened plum of Queen of the Night. Bring out your bold side with Wisdom, an antiqued gold Precision Ink that is long-lasting and waterproof. To highlight the natural beauty of your face and body, Aurora is a champagne Gleam that is a lustrous cream packed with pearly iridescence.

There are two Powder Blushers in the collection that are meant to shade, brighten, enhance and define the shape of your face. The high pigmented intense colors are S.O.P.H.I.E., a golden coral shimmer, and Allure, a dusky rose with pink shimmer. For full and glossy lips, Intense Lipgloss is hailed as “liquid lipstick”, color-rich with a high shine that comes in bold shades such as Boost (blueberry violet) and Opulent (rainbow beige). If your desire is a perfect all-night pout, try color-intense lipsticks in Magnetism (deep raspberry pink) 0r Underworld (iridescent blueberry violet). Coordinate nails by polishing them with Creator, a magical black full of sparkle, and add accents of Magnetism.

VICE PALETTE

Urban Decay is continuously noted for their stunning shadow palettes and are often coveted by those who are self-proclaimed makeup addicts, so it is no surprise that Vice contains twenty never before seen shades. Get your fix with this mix of mattes, satins, shimmers, naturals and brights; colors range from breathtaking gold to shimmery green to jet-black satin. Each shadow features Urban Decay‘s brand new Pigment Infusion System™, a blend of ingredients that gives them a velvety texture, rich color, blendability and serious staying power. The palette is packed into a sleek purple case complete with a jeweled company logo that opens with the push of a button, and also comes with a double-ended Good Karma Brush. As usual, the names are intriguing enough to create a story, as one can feel Desperation (greyish taupe brown matte-satin) of wanting this collection of gorgeous shadows, and waiting too long to purchase it could leave you scouring the Black Market (dark charcoal black matte-satin) for it. Craving this Vice (dark eggplant with subtle red shimmer) can make you feel like a Junkie (dark green-blue with gold shimmer), but block out the Noise (dark reddish-pink metallic with big gold glitter) and be an Unhinged (electric turquoise blue metallic) Provocateur (light greyish pink with lots of mutlidimensional glitter) steeped in Chaos (vibrant royal blue with subtle shimmer).

DON’T KNOCK IT

This lunchbox style tin by LUSH is full of tropical treats which I feel can be used any time of year to feel as though you are on a secluded island with a harem of eye candy whose sole purpose is to pamper you into ecstasy. Featuring a design by artist Sam Bevington, this tin contains six innovative products made with fresh fruits, herbs and essential oils. It is a great way to introduce others to LUSH, plus the tin can be re-used for lunches, your favorite makeup stashes or anything you want. The collection includes fruity favorites – a Bath Bomb, Bubble Bar Slice and Luxury Bath Melt – along with Sexy Peel soap, Each Peach massage bar and Karma Komba shampoo bar. Makes a great gift for others or be the envy of everyone by spoiling yourself.

Spawned from the Wilds of Weird New Jersey, my evolution is ongoing as I travel the winding road of life, taking adventures as they come. My passion lies in being a preservationist and historian of American variety arts: circus, sideshow, burlesque, vaudeville, etc. Creativity is a specialty and expressed through various artistic mediums such as writing, painting, collage, photography, body modification and fabricating custom hair art.